All Time

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Stoker

♣♣♣♣♣/♣♣♣♣♣

Richard
Stoker (Dermot Mulroney) dies in a car accident during daughter India’s (Mia
Wasikowska) 18th birthday, leaving her to care for her emotionally unstable
mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman). All these events further coincide with the
arrival of Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), her father’s brother whom they are
meeting for the very first time. Enigmatic as he is, both mother and daughter quickly
get infatuated with him, despite the suspicions that they have regarding his
motives, which they are quick to brush aside. What does Uncle Charlie really
want? Is he a vengeful ghost? A psycho uncle who badly needs a hug? A figment
of imagination? Her real father? No, I am not telling. You have to see this one
for yourself and I could only promise that you would not be left disappointed.

The
story itself is a bit sick, well, that is if you ponder on the oddity involved
in it, some traces of contrivance here and there, as well as the defiance of
well-placed social norms. What would really amaze you, though, is the way
everything is filmed, which is just saying that the director did an amazing job. The
method of storytelling easily makes up for any misgiving about the story. The
use of various camera techniques is something not usually
found in Hollywood, which further highlights the brilliance of renowned Korean director
Park Chan Wook. In a way, it is as though you are watching a Korean suspense
thriller inexplicably acted by Hollywood stars.

Acting.
Wasikowska’s portrayal is reminiscent of Saoirse Ronan’s Hanna, what with the
standoffish demeanor and some similarities in terms of characterization. Wearing
old fashioned clothes that make cinema horror muses like Carrie and all those
strange pale ghost wannabes freaky, India unpredictability will scare you more than her
eccentricity You simply would not know what
she would do next. Well, come to think of it, this is not true because the
director gives out many hints. What we mean here is if you imagine her as a
real person and not just some odd fictional character.

Goode’s
Uncle Charlie is also creepy but in a mysterious kind of way. If you have
already met Anne Rice’s Lasher, perhaps you would agree that he would be the
closest comparison in terms of the character’s mysterious appeal. On the other
hand, it is Kidman who gives at least some semblance of normalcy to it all,
being the fragile and washed up mother who would rather compete with than
support her daughter. And we are saying this because the other two characters
who share most of the screen time are just too weird. To be fair to Evelyn, she
might seem to be nothing but an unstable bimbo of a mother that a kid would be
unlucky to have, but thanks to Kidman’s portrayal you could actually see a
different side of her which is that of a grieving mother who ended up that way for not being
the favorite parent. Hence, her rather bizarre conduct. It looks like Kidman's career is in full throttle once again after her post-Oscar slump.

You
would know when a horror or suspense movie is just relying on cheap tactics to
scare you. That is so not the aim of this movie. Instead, the director opts for
something that will make you sit back and appreciate what cinema, as an art
form, could offer. The director’s keen attention to detail is prevalent through
the different camera techniques used as well as the mastery of sound effects
that is not just for show.

There are lots of juxtapositions that are craftily
presented, some notable examples of which are: when transition is achieved by
juxtaposing Evelyn’s hair and a field of corn or wheat or hay or whatever that was;
India stretching her limbs on the bed following the cadence of the ticking of
the clock; a similar flashback scene which serves as some sort of
foreshadowing; and that scene where India turns on the lights in the basement and
allows them to swing back and forth, while the faces of Evelyn and Charlie are juxtaposed following
the same swinging motion along with the resulting lighting that comes with such
movement.

Stoker
is not the kind of suspense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your
seat out of excitement. Instead, it captivates you by playing on your
curiosity, by luring you into the universe of these three individuals through one
intriguing bit after the other. You will be left asking questions and would
stay until the end to get those answers, none of which could really be
considered as disappointing. Kudos, Wentworth Miller, for coming up with a
screenplay like this. Yes, that very same actor from Prison Break. Who knew he
could write!